I-XVIII

After I began to go to the country school, I
saw less of the Bohemians. We were sixteen
pupils at the sod schoolhouse, and we all
came on horseback and brought our dinner.
My schoolmates were none of them very in-
teresting, but I somehow felt that by making
comrades of them I was getting even with
Antonia for her indifference. Since the father's
death, Ambrosch was more than ever the head
of the house and he seemed to direct the feel-
ings as well as the fortunes of his women-folk.
Antonia often quoted his opinions to me, and
she let me see that she admired him, while
she thought of me only as a little boy. Before
the spring was over, there was a distinct cold-
ness between us and the Shimerdas. It came
about in this way.

One Sunday I rode over there with Jake to
get a horse-collar which Ambrosch had bor-
rowed from him and had not returned. It was
a beautiful blue morning. The buffalo-peas
were blooming in pink and purple masses
along the roadside, and the larks, perched on

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v?